Thermography Certification Levels 1, 2 and 3 Explained

Thermography certification has three levels. A Level 1 (or Category 1) thermographer collects reliable infrared images and data to an established procedure; a Level 2 chooses the technique, diagnoses faults and recommends repairs; a Level 3 writes the procedures, interprets standards and runs the whole thermography programme. Who awards the level depends on where you work: in North America it is usually your employer, under ASNT SNT-TC-1A, while in the UK and much of the world it is a certification body working to ISO 18436-7, such as BINDT's PCN scheme.

Checked on 11 October 2026 against the sources listed under this post.

The level names look the same across schemes, but the rules behind them are not. This guide uses the documents the schemes publish themselves, starting with BINDT's PCN thermography rules (Issue 8, in force since 24 July 2025), which set out what each category may do, the minimum training and experience, and the exam, in more detail than any other public source.

What are the three thermography certification levels?

Level 1 is the data collector. BINDT says Category 1 personnel are qualified to perform infrared thermography measurements "according to established and recognised procedures". They set up and operate the camera safely, verify calibration, control sources of error such as emissivity and reflections, do basic image processing, keep a database of results and report anything that needs attention. The PCN rules are blunt about the limit: Category 1 personnel "shall not be responsible for the choice of test method or technique to be used, nor for the assessment of test results."

Level 2 is the analyst. On top of the Level 1 tasks, a Category 2 thermographer selects the technique and understands its limits, specifies cameras and permanently installed systems, analyses the data, diagnoses the fault, recommends corrective action and reports on whether the repair worked. They can also set acceptance and severity criteria, decide inspection frequencies and supervise Level 1 staff.

Level 3 is the programme owner. Category 3 adds determining the thermal signature of systems and components, advanced fault diagnosis and prognostics, interpreting and evaluating "Standards, Codes, specifications and procedures", and supervising everyone below. The Infrared Training Center describes the same role as "a thermography program manager who writes the company's written predictive maintenance/inspection practices" on its certification page.

How does US thermography certification work under ASNT SNT-TC-1A?

In the US most thermographers are certified by their employer. ASNT describes SNT-TC-1A (2024) as a document that "provides guidelines for employers to establish in-house certification programs" and gives "the educational, experience, and training recommendations for each NDT method". Each employer turns those recommendations into its own written practice, which, in ASNT's words, "the employer and the employer's Level III will approve". The 2024 edition was amended by an addendum that took effect in May 2025, and ASNT recommends using it together with ANSI/ASNT CP-105, the standard topical outlines that list what each level's training must cover.

Two consequences matter for your career:

• The certificate belongs to the employer's programme. In a June 2026 advisory, ASNT said SNT-TC-1A certifications "should only be issued by employers as part of their internal qualification system" and that training institutes "cannot independently issue certifications under SNT-TC-1A." A training company can train you and run the exam for your employer; the certification itself comes from the employer.
• Hours vary by employer. Because the hours in SNT-TC-1A are recommendations, your employer's written practice sets the actual training and experience you need. Ask to see it.

Where a contract calls for something stricter, there is ANSI/ASNT CP-189 (2024), an American National Standard that, according to ASNT, provides "comprehensive minimum requirements for personnel certification" and requires Level III personnel to hold the ASNT NDT Level III.

The ASNT NDT Level III in infrared

At Level III, ASNT itself certifies you. To hold the ASNT NDT Level III you pass the NDT Basic exam plus at least one method exam. The Thermal/Infrared Testing method exam has 90 items and a two-hour limit. ASNT's experience requirement depends on education: at least 12 months with a four-year engineering or physical science degree, and at least 48 months with no college study, and certification is renewed every five years.

How do ISO 18436-7, ISO 9712 and BINDT PCN differ?

Outside North America, certification is usually third-party: an independent body sets the exam and issues the certificate, so it stays with you when you change employer.

ISO 18436-7:2014 covers people "who perform machinery condition monitoring and diagnostics using infrared thermography" and "specifies a three-category classification programme". This is the standard most condition monitoring and electrical maintenance thermographers work to.

ISO 9712:2021 is the general standard for certifying non-destructive testing personnel. Its scope lists ten methods, and "thermographic testing" is one of them. It is used where thermography is an NDT method on products, such as composites in aerospace, rather than a maintenance survey.

BINDT PCN in the UK runs its thermography scheme under its condition monitoring rules, and says it is "in accordance with ISO 18436 part 7". The published minimums are:

BINDT counts experience at a minimum of 16 hours of thermography work per month, asks candidates to log their hours and the nature of their work, and requires previous certification at the lower categories before Category 3. Category 2 candidates should also have training in the engineering of the sector they choose, of a similar duration to the thermography training.

Large training providers bridge these schemes. ITC, for example, says it certifies to ASNT SNT-TC-1A and CP-105 in North America, to BINDT CM/GEN Appendix B in the UK, and to ISO 18436 and ISO 9712 in Latin America, Europe and Asia.

What does a Level 1 thermographer do on an electrical survey?

In this short video, the Online Infrared Training Center walks through an electrical infrared inspection: what a hot connection looks like, why load matters and how a finding is reported. It is one of the lessons in our free Infrared Thermography Training course, which covers heat transfer, emissivity, camera settings and electrical and mechanical applications before you sit a certification course.

ASNT describes thermal/infrared testing as a method that "captures and analyzes heat patterns on the surface of an object using a thermal camera", and lists "overheating electrical connections" first among the faults it reveals. On an electrical route, a Level 1 typically:

• confirms the equipment is loaded and the camera is set up for the target's emissivity and the reflected temperature;
• scans panels, switchgear, busway and motor control centres to the site procedure;
• records temperature differences between the hot spot and a reference, with the load at the time;
• flags anomalies against the site's severity criteria for a Level 2 to assess.

Opening covers on energised equipment to get line of sight is energised work. Before anyone does it, the electrical safety programme applies: read our guide to NFPA 70E training requirements and our explanation of arc flash PPE categories.

Where does NFPA 70B fit for thermographers?

NFPA 70B used to be advice. NFPA says the 2023 edition moved it from a recommended practice to the Standard for Electrical Equipment Maintenance, effective on 16 January 2023, which "provides more enforceability for what must be done" (NFPA). Infrared thermography is part of it. In the committee's First Revision report for the next edition, the maintenance interval table lists infrared thermography of all equipment at 12 months for equipment in condition 1 or 2 and 6 months in condition 3. The same report requires accessible covers to be removed for a clear line of sight (infrared windows are mentioned as an alternative) and temperature differences between the area of concern and the reference to be documented.

That is why demand for thermographers in facilities, data centres and industrial sites has a clear driver. The committee text we read does not name a certification scheme, so the level an employer, insurer or client asks for is set by their own specification. In practice, many ask for a Level 1 to collect data and a Level 2 to sign off findings.

Which thermography certification should you get?

Start with who will rely on your reports.

• Working for a US employer with an NDT programme: your employer's SNT-TC-1A written practice decides, and your Level 1 is issued by the employer after the training and exam it specifies.
• Working in the UK, Ireland or for a client who asks for third-party certification: a PCN or other ISO 18436-7 certificate is portable and checkable.
• Doing NDT of products rather than plant surveys: look at ISO 9712 or your sector's NDT scheme.
• Planning a long career in reliability: Level 2 is where the real work of diagnosis and recommendation sits, so plan your logged hours from day one.

Any credential is only as good as the ability to check it. Our guide to verifying an engineering training certificate shows what employers look for, and are free certificates worth it? explains why a course certificate and a certification are different things. Thermography also sits inside a wider reliability programme; our post on predictive maintenance with AI and machine learning shows how thermal data joins vibration and other condition monitoring.

Free courses to prepare for a thermography course

Start with Infrared Thermography Training, which contains the video above. For electrical surveys, Testing and Maintenance of Transformers and Switchgear explains the equipment you will be scanning, and Electrical Safety: Arc Flash, NFPA 70E and LOTO covers working safely around it. If you report findings into a quality system, Electrical and Instrumentation QA/QC Inspection shows how inspections are planned and recorded.

Every course is free in full. An optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, from US$8.99, is not an ASNT, BINDT PCN or ISO 18436-7 certification and is not accredited; it records that you finished the course, and anyone can verify it at edwartens.com/verification.

Take the free course

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Condition monitoring · Beginner · Free

Infrared Thermography Training

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Quality management · Beginner · Free

Electrical and Instrumentation QA/QC Inspection

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Electrical · Intermediate · Free

Testing and Maintenance of Transformers and Switchgear

Free

Electrical · Beginner · Free

Electrical Safety: Arc Flash, NFPA 70E and LOTO